Joaquín Barceló will keep smiling at the Port de Sagunt Pavilion until 2027

Joaquín Barceló will remain with Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto for the next two seasons (2025-2026 and 2026-2027) following the agreement reached between the player and the club.

The right wing is wearing the red-and-white shirt for the first time this year after joining last summer from Villa de Aranda. In addition, in the Puerto Sagunto side’s last two matches (Amenabar Zarautz and Trops Málaga) in the División de Honor Plata Masculina, he has also played minutes at right back, a position that is not unfamiliar to him, having occupied it earlier in his career.

He arrived from Villa de Aranda, who were recently promoted to the Liga Plenitude Asobal via the promotion play-offs, a stage they will contest again on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May, this time with the Valencian team. He spent the 2022-2023 season (on loan from Servigroup Benidorm) and 2023-2024 with the Aranda side.

Neither of those two seasons was straightforward, as they were marked by two serious injuries that barely allowed him to enjoy the sport with the Aranda de Duero club. Since April 2021, he had been struggling with discomfort that led to surgery for a Haglund’s deformity with a partial tear of the Achilles tendon in his right ankle. Another serious injury disrupted his progress at the end of 2023, when he was diagnosed with and operated on for a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Before that, Servigroup Benidorm brought him into Spanish handball for their reserve side from VILO Handball. With the Alicante club, he made his Liga Plenitude Asobal debut in 2021-2022, scoring 4 goals in 5 matches, the competition in which Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto want to establish themselves in the short and medium term. He was also a regular in Argentina’s youth national teams. He took part in a Youth World Championship and Pan American Games with the junior team, and was even called up for a senior international window.

“He joined our project after two very serious injuries, with everything that entails. It was a complete unknown how he would develop as the months went by,” first-team coach Toni Malla says regarding the doubts there may have been about him in the summer.

“Through his daily work, he has earned an important role within the squad and has also achieved the stability he needed after having a very difficult time in recent years. We are delighted to see Juaco smiling again on the 40x20 court, even more so while defending our colours,” the Catalan coach stresses about a player who has featured in 27 of the 29 regular-season league matches to date.

This new renewal follows those already announced for head coach Toni Malla, under the formula of two fixed seasons and one optional season, and for players Dani Martínez, Arnau Fernández and Matheus de Novais (all three until 2027) and David García (until 2026). As for new signings, the only confirmed arrival to date is Alex Pozzer, who will also remain at the club until 2027.

More renewals and new signings will be announced in the coming weeks through the club’s website and social media channels.

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.